Rescuing on the Frontier
by WesDaaman
Summary: Out of nowhere one day, a magical force steals a local elder from Gravity Falls and it is up to the Mystery Shack crew's young associates to rescue him in a place they have never been before...the Oregon High Desert.
1. Shaded Preparations

In the shadows of a darkened chamber, a strange figure walked over to a crudely made wooden desk. On the desk was a mud-made container shaped almost like a bottle.

"The formula is near to completion," spoke the being in a strange, archaic tongue. "but what could possibly be missing from it?"

"I have a suggestion, sire," said another, shorter similar being in the same language, "We need an aged mortal who is very insightful on bases of magical alchemy."

"Where can there be a mortal like that in these current times?" responded the taller one, "Especially with humankind, their technology and arrogance over nature blinds them to it all."

"You never know, your majesty," answered the shorter one, cautiously, "I for one think that they are still out there, definitely!"

"I suppose you are right," said the taller being, now feeling a few ideas coming into play, "Perhaps our 'search-spell' shall find the one seek."

The taller one then closed his eyes, raised his hands and hummed. Then he spoke. "Spell of locating the unknown...find us an aging mortal whom is experienced in the magical ways!"

And with that, a wave of magical power was cast out of this hidden base, searching for some aged Human who could possibly be experienced in supernatural ways and affairs. The spell would pretty soon end up finding the most unexpected and most unlikely of people.


	2. Love and Oldnapping

In Gravity Falls, things were going normally for the locals. A couple new things were stirring up at the same time. Lost life forms (lost to Human-related causes) both here and everywhere else in the world had miraculously returned to existence thanks to the Age of Redemption prophecy, brought forth by the divine and righteous Light's heavenly power. In addition, all invasive species to different lands had vanished (including feral pets) and hunting for sport was beginning to be banned worldwide. Harmony and mending was at work.*

Sitting on a bench, close to the Mystery Shack, was an unusual couple. They were boyfriend and girlfriend. They understood each other very deeply, yet they were young and three years apart from each other. But in truth, that did not matter to them anymore, for they had seen past the political "wall" and found something truly astounding to live by. Stan swept the Shack's front porch and glanced unsurely at the couple while they were gossiping happily. The couple was none other than his grandnephew Dipper and his cashier Wendy. He had been very unsure about this pair for a while, but was now starting to accept it. If nature itself said it was okay, then maybe he'd be okay with it in time.

 _I guess if it's both approved by nature and makes Dipper happy, then I guess I'll go with it,_ the old man thought to himself.

"You know, Dipper," said Wendy to Dipper, sucking thoughtfully on a Citrus fruit. "It was always painful for me, deep in my heart, every time I broke up with all my ex-boyfriends. I honestly thought that I'd never find the right guy. Now I see that he was in front of me this whole time!"

"Gee, that's a lot like what happened to me," said Dipper, shyly looking away briefly while scratching the back of his head. "I had, for a while, always wanted a girlfriend. There have always been girls around me developing crushes on me. But none of them really spoke to me. Sure, I'd help them out of friendly compassion when they needed help, but I honestly didn't feel the same for them as they felt for me. Now I'm with the right girl, forevermore."

And as Wendy smiled blushed from being flattered, Dipper kissed her right on the cheek, actually making her giggle in delight.

"Where's the barf bag?" mumbled Stan to himself, actually feeling his stomach shift a little.

All of a sudden, the old man felt a little tickle on his back and gut. He then saw sparkles swirling around him, rapidly.

"What's this?" he questioned with slight fear, "Did I forget to take my medicine today?"

Then, as sudden and quick as a bolt of lightning, the sparkly force absorbed Stan in like a vacuum cleaner. "HEY! WA-WAIT!"

Dipper and Wendy looked just in time to see this obscure thing happen. This magic force, now with Stan captured in its unseen possession, took the sky and zoomed south.

"Now there's something unexpected to happen to someone like my granduncle," commented Dipper, starring strangely at the direction the force just took to leave.

"Oh boy, here we go again with an adventure," said Wendy, feeling up to the challenge, turning her gaze to Dipper, "I guess me and Stan have to be even on certain things, so I've got to save him, wherever he's been taken too. I'm also glad to go with you, baby!"

"Well, shucks," muttered Dipper with a blush which made Wendy hug him.

* * *

Dipper and Wendy had then called over Mabel and Soos to the Shack's toolshed for a private meeting on Stan's disappearance and how they were to rescue him, as well as to find out who or what wanted him and for what reason.

"Well, I guess it's like what Twigsnatcher, the Hobgoblin dude, told us," said Soos, feeling thoughtful, "we never know what awaits us in the future."

"And now Grunkle Stan is the one who has to be saved from death, huh?" commented Mabel, feeling surprised by this slight change in usual events, "But what magical force wants him, and why?"

"That's what we're going to find out," said Dipper, making a fist in determination, "He may have been acting in ways to make us distrustful of him before, but now is the time for us to show our care for him. After all, he's family to us, Mabel."

"Now that's really sweet!" said Wendy, hugging Dipper and then kissing his cheek.

"Yeah! But where did that magic force go?" asked Mabel, scratching her hair.

"It took him south of here," said Dipper, recalling the direction the strange wave of power took after absorbing Stan, "Maybe slightly to the southeast."

"I wonder where that direction will take us," said Soos, curiously, "Maybe to a place where evil rainbows and evil flowers are? I don't know how I thought of that..."

"We might as well go in that direction," said Wendy, feeling both strategic and compassionate, "But let's not tell anyone else. Otherwise, they would not let us go and send authorities to find him. And don't we want to show our care for the boss of the Shack himself?"

Everyone agreed to this and went to go back the bare essentials to take with them.

* Refer to _A Perfect World Comes to Light._


	3. Aid in the Woods

After packing what was needed, including the journal, for their secret rescuing adventure (as well as closing the Mystery Shack for a couple of days with a sign on the door), the twins, Soos and Wendy were now going down a southeastward trail in the forest while lugging backpacks, heading in the direction that the magical force went after it "oldnapped" (as Mabel called it) Grunkle Stan. Wendy and Soos had told their families and friends that they were going on an extended "trip" for a while.

The local woodland was definitely thriving with life today. Small, undergrowth-dwellers such as Western Toads, Long-Tailed Voles, Frog Shrews, Northwestern Garter Snakes, American Shrew Moles and Least Chipmunks foraged for food through the leaf litter. Tree-dwellers such as Northwestern Fritillary Butterflies, American Kestrels, Douglas Squirrels, Western Gray Squirrels, Black-Chinned Hummingbirds, Downy Woodpeckers and Cedar Waxwings moved about in the high tree branches that let down beams of sunlight from above. They saw a couple of large local non-Humans such as Mule Deer, White-Tailed Deer, Elk, Red-Tailed Hawks, Coyotes, Red Foxes, Bald Eagles and Moose, as well as a few of the countless species that had been brought back through the power of the Light, such as a few of Harlan's Ground Sloths and a few Woodburn Teratorns.

"You know, guys," said Wendy, after a short while of silence from her, "Before I was taken in by that caring family of Sasquatches, I used to think this place we live in was so boring. But ever since I lived out here for a while with my 'secondary family', I understand now that this land is so beautiful and precious!"

"You mean it?" asked Mabel, happy to hear this from Wendy.

"Yup." answered Wendy with a big smile. "I think can I see nature's beauty even more now, since I'm...you know...in love...for real..."

"Being in love sure has changed you, Wendy" commented Soos, feeling a bit perplexed.

"I-I think being with Dipper has done it to me. And tha-that's a good thing!" responded Wendy, feeling nervous but then serious.

"Gee, y-you mean it?" asked Dipper in wonder, his cheeks blushing and his heart pounding.

"Of course I do, Dipster!" chuckled Wendy, hugging him.

"Yes-sir-ee! Love is practically addictive!" joked Mabel with a big smile.

Just at that moment, Soos realized something really important. "We know the direction the magic Stan Pines-kidnapper went, but where is its, you know, destination?"

"Good question, my great-girthed friend," spoke a familiar slightly nasally voice with a New Yorker's accent.

The four looked up toward a nearby Bigleaf Maple to see, chilling on one of the tree's branches, the mischievous but loyal Twigsnatcher the Bat/Primate-like Common Hobgoblin, looking a little drowsy since it was daytime.

"Well if it isn't the snatcher of twigs himself!" greeted Mabel, welcomingly.

"That's why they call me Twigsnatcher, because I make art from twigs," responded Twgisnatcher with a grin, "Anyway, I wasn't spying on you this time. Now way! I just happened to be dozing in the same area you were walking here in the forest."

"Okay..." said Wendy, not quite convinced of this since she wasn't always sure about this Hobgoblin's mischievousness.

"I felt a strange presence as I was sleeping here," continued Twigsnatcher, briefly scratching his right ear, "It must have been this magic force you're talkin' 'bout. I think it's Unseelie!"

"Unseelie?" responded the four Humans in confusion to such a word.

"The exact opposite of Seelie," answered Twigsnatcher, with a pointing finger up, "Seelie are benevolent fey. Unseelie are malevolent fey."

"You're saying evil faeries are behind this?" asked Dipper, wanting to be sure.

"To be precise...," said Twigsnatcher, briefly sniffing the air, "...it looks like evil Elves are to blame!"

"Evil Elves, huh?" said Soos in wonder.

"Elves? That's neat!" said Mabel in intrigue.

"Elves?" responded both Dipper and Wendy at the same time, looking questioningly at Twigsnatcher.

"Seems to me that they're Dark Elves!" announced Twigsnatcher dramatically, now standing up on the branch with his arm out for more drama. "Those are a kind of Elf that definitely can't be trusted, except by other Dark Elves. Seems like they want Stanford Pines for something, but what?"

"That's what we're trying to figure out," answered Dipper. "You know where there are any Dark Elves in the area?"

"Let me see...," said Twigsnatcher, tapping his chin and recalling his knowledge of local elven ranges, "The nearest Dark Elf community is like...say...about several hundred miles from here, southeast of this woodland."

"Several hundred miles from here!?" exclaimed Dipper, Mabel, Wendy and Soos in shock, "That'll take forever!"

"Not if you've got the right means for transportation," smirked Twigsnatcher. He then pointed straight at a nearby 9.8-foot-long Harlan's Ground Sloth, rearing up on its hind legs to reach at lush foliage to eat (Mabel being excited to see this medium-sized Mylodontid Sloth). "How about a Sloth?"

"I'm pretty sure we all can't fit on it's back," chuckled Dipper, "Plus, it moves too slow."

"Then probably a Moose or an Elk are also out of the question," continued Twigsnatcher, now relaxing sideways against the branch. "Then how about a Mastodon?"

"A Ma-Ma-Ma-Mastodon, you say?" stuttered Mabel in overwhelmed surprise and excitement.

"You mean like a Mammoth?" asked Soos in big interest.

"Actually, Mammoths are Elephants," said Dipper to Soos, "Mastodons are different Proboscideans."

"There you go again, my adorable and smart boyfriend!" giggled Wendy, rubbing Dipper's head playfully. "But hold on, you mean ride on a Mastodon's back? How is that going to happen? And for that matter, how will we find one now?"

"Why don't you figure out by finding the secret inside yous'..." answered Twigsnatcher with a grin. All of a sudden, he vanished into the upper branches to now get some daytime slumber before his nighttime foraging.

"What does that mean?" asked Dipper, puzzled, "Why do magical beings always talk in riddles?"

Just as Mabel and Soos were beginning to guess on the matter, Wendy suddenly had a memory reappear inside her head. She remembered back to her stay with the Sasquatch family, to a moment when she and a few of her woodland friends met a massive, hairy beast with a pair of long, curved tusks and a long, hanging proboscis. They asked for it to give them a ride to find their ways back to their homes. The great Animal gladly let them all ride on its back, including Wendy's Moose friend, and brought them back to their homes and families individually. The great Mammal then told Wendy that if she or any of her friends would ever need assistance, then they should just call out from a sort of horn, and this character would be back.

Oddly, she felt like this didn't really happen, like it could have been a dream, but her inner natural senses and memory said otherwise. "I think I have the answer, guys."

So Wendy lifted up her hands to her mouth, made an O-shape with them and called out in high-pitched called that also had a sort of bellow to it.

"What the heck?" said Mabel in pure confusion, "Are you signaling an army?"

"No...," responded Wendy slowly, lowering down her hands and now starting to smile. "I-I'm calling an old friend to help us find Stan..."

Suddenly came a loud bellowing trumpet call from about a mile away in response to Wendy's call. This responding call sounded very much like an Elephant, but a little different. Pretty soon, in just a few minutes, out of the tall tree density of the forest, startling many Birds and Insects out of the undergrowth, came a very large, powerful, four-legged beast with a long proboscis, thick, shaggy, brown hair and long, strongly curved tusks. It was around 9.5 feet high to the shoulders and probably weighed as much as 5 short tons. This was a male American Mastodon, without a doubt.

"A-are you all s-seeing what I'm seeing, dudes?" stuttered Soos with wide-eyed amazement.

"If you're asleep, then I'm sharing your dream," said Dipper, also amazed.

"This...is...awesome!" spoke Mabel with glee at what she saw.

"He-hello again...Namuca," muttered Wendy to the Mastodon, remembering her wildlife communication skills.

"Wendy! You certainly have grown taller since the last time I saw you, not too many years ago," responded Namuca the Mastodon with curiosty and trust in his tone of deep voice as he gestured with his tunk. "And who are these individuals accompanying you, far from the nearest Human territory?"

"These are my friends, and we're on an adventure to find a missing elder," replied Wendy, politely, as she then introduced the others to the Mastodon one by one, "Soos, Mabel, and her brother Dipper...who's my boyfriend..." She and Dipper blushed at this.

"An affianced mate of yours that is slightly younger than you?" responded Namuca enthusiastically and with a chuckle and a flap of his ears, "I like the sound of that!"

As this conversation was going on, Soos and the twins could only every now and then understand a word or two of these snorts and bellows ever since gaining a sample of Omnilinguis magic from the mystical Sasquatch named Ska (refer to _A Female Tarzan_ ).

"Anyway, what elder of your kin do you youngsters seek?" continued the Mastodon.

"He's me and Soos's director at our job, and he's Mabel and Dipper's granduncle," answered Wendy, hoping at the same time that Namuca would understand the humane thing called a 'job'. "He was just recently kidnapped by a strange and dark magical force. We don't know where exactly it took him. Somewhere southeast of here. Can you take us to a place about a few hundred kilometers or miles from here?"

"Dark magic, you say?" said Namuca in suspicion, scratching his chin with his trunk. He then looked straight at the Humans in determined loyalty. "This task you are performing must definitely be serious...Very well, brave young Wendy. I will deliver you and your friends to rescue this elder of yours. Whatever it may take!"

"Thanks so much, Namuca!" thanked Wendy, quickly hugging the Mastodon's trunk in thanks. She then told her friends that the bigger Animal had agreed to assist them, for a few more long distances to travel is not so difficult a task for something like him.

So Namuca leaned down and let the four young Humans climb onto his back. Once he stood back up on all fours, he announced to them, "Let us now travel to a place where we've never been!"


	4. A Land Totally New

Stan had no idea of what just happened to him or of where he was at the moment. He found sitting on the dusty of floor of a darkened room, lit only by a few small crevices in the walls that filtered in only a tiny amount of sunlight.

"I-Is this some prank of yours McGucket?" spoke Stan, trying to smile for supposedly intended amusement. "I'm onto you, you old whacky codger!"

"Peaceful assumptions will get you nowhere," spoke creaky and deep sounding voice from the shadows. Stan only gulped in response.

* * *

Back with Dipper, Mabel, Wendy and Soos, were still riding on the back of Namuca the Mastodon. Apparently, Namuca moved at a faster pace through the forest better than the Humans had been doing, despite his size. This obviously had to due with the fact that he had lived out in the wilderness his whole life. Mabel sometimes asked for a brief ride on Namuca's trunk, which the Mastodon sometimes agreed to and let the young girl ride down his long proboscis and flinging her back to her riding spot on his back.

Just a little further on, about a couple miles longer, the land around them begun to open up. The trees were lessening and more open spaces were appearing.

"Is it just me, or is the land...different around here?" asked Dipper curiously.

"It's not just you Dipper," said Wendy, looking around, "I think we're entering new turf."

Finally, at some point while trekking through this half wooded open area, Namuca halted his pace. He then turned his head to look at the young Humans riding on his back.

"This shall be as far as I can go," he said, now briefly squatting down to let Soos, Dipper and Wendy slide off. For Mabel, he decided to please her thrill-seeking personality and gently grasped her with his trunk and lowered her onto the ground. "You shall have to continue this quest of yours on your own."

"But why?" asked Wendy, a little confused.

"We Mastodons don't mind a little bit of open space every now and then, but there still has to be trees nearby, otherwise we would have to eat grass and that can wear down our teeth to the gum," answered the big herbivore, surprising the group with this bizarre fact. "You see, we are meant to browse on trees and bushes, not graze on grass like our Mammoth cousins mostly do."

"That's pretty strange," said Dipper, finding what Namuca had just said a little hard to believe, "For that matter, what open space are we at anyway?"

"You know, this might be...," said Soos, pondering at the landscape, "...the border to the fabled High Desert of Oregon. I've always wanted to come here!"

"The Oregon High Desert?" said Mabel with intrigue. "That's amazing! We're now on an adventure in an untamed land!"

"So we're near a great and scrubby land described by some as a 'desert', huh?" said Dipper, looking straight out, with curiosity, at the vast plains that were already appearing before him and the rest of the group.

"I can imagine that my dad _never_ comes here on his logging trips due to there being not many trees," said Wendy, thinking about how her father would react to a land with so little wood. However, she said this in normal Human words so that Namuca could not understand her, otherwise he might have treated differently if he ever knew that she was the daughter of a 'tree-killer.'

"Well then," the Mastodon said, after clearing his throat and starting to turn around back to the direction that they had come, "I will be returning to the primary woodland now. I should get back to browsing on the forest trees. I also can't leave any potential mates waiting, you know."

And so Namuca was now lumbering back to the great woodland where he mainly resided, accidently startling a pair of Groundhogs and a trio of Western Meadowlarks which all rushed out of the bushes to get out of the American Mastodon's way. The four Humans now looked off to the south, seeing vast open spaces on the horizon beyond. They definately had a long journey ahead of them.

"So these are part of the wide open plains of west, huh?" said Soos, looking carefully out at the land around them, both the fields beyond and the patches of trees going back in the opposite direction. "Dudes, this'll be great!"

"It'll sure be a big adventure with friends and everything!" said Mabel happily, jumping up onto Soos's shoulder, "And a chance to show Grunkle Stan that we can look after him...despite his age. Ha!"

Dipper reached into his backpack and pulled out the map he had brought along for the occasion. It was a map of the whole area of the Oregeon High Desert. While they had all been riding on Namuca's back, he had marked a certain area of the map to hypothesize where Stan might have been taken to, remembering a few vague coordinates Twigsnatcher gave. Wendy kneeled down to look at the map with her younger boyfriend.

"So where do we go from here, honey?" she asked curiously, hanging her arm around his shoulders.

"We go south," replied Dipper, looking up from the map and pointing southwards, towards the distant and unknown horizon. "Theorizing form what Twigsnatcher said, it's that direction where we should go to find our favorite old man."

"Should we follow them to know which way is right?" asked Mabel, looking and pointing up at a passing flock of Brewer's Blackbirds flying overhead, heading in the same direction as the four young Humans were aiming to go.

"I guess we will for a while," said Dipper with a smile.

Thus, the band began to walk southward (slightly southeastward), following the New World blackbird flock in the correct direction to save Grunkle Stan and to find out what malevolent Elves wanted with him.


	5. The Desert Comes Alive

The land around the four young friends was totally new to them all, for they never had been to such a wide open range with very few trees (excepting for a few kinds like Western Junipers). The dominating vegetation of the hot area was Big Sagebrush and Rabbitbrush, along with hardy grasses like Idaho Fescue, Bluebunch Wheatgrass, and tussocks. A couple different wildflowers seen consisted of such varieties as yellow Oregon Sunshine, Dwarf Purple Monkeyflower, Sulpherflower Buckwheat, Prairie-Fire, and Mariposa Lilies. Other local wildflowers common throughout the region included Buttercups, Larkspur, _Phlox_ , and Primroses.

Several kinds of small Birds darted through the air all around - perching every now and then on the ground, on rocks and on large vegetation - chirping and catching different Insects and other Arthropods, as well as some eating a bit of plant matter (including nectar). Some mostly walked than fly. American Dusky Flycatchers, Sage Thrashers, Black-Chinned Hummingbirds, Mountain Bluebirds, American Yellow Warblers, Anna's Hummingbirds, California Quails, Spotted Towhees, and House Wrens were among the countless kinds sighted.

"This is so amazing!" commented Mabel in fascination, standing up on a small boulder for a better view of the landscape while the others stopped nearby. "This High Desert is so...big!"

"There's definitely so much to learn out here," said Dipper, wiping some sweat off of his forehead and taking his hat off and fanning himself with it, for the temperature was reaching the 80s.

"No to mention not much for water or shade out here, dude," said Soos, wiping his own sweaty forehead and also fanning himself with his own hat.

"I think that's what this land is like during the summer," said, stretching out her back, rolling up her sleeves and jeans, wiping her own sweat and also fanning herself with her hat. But she also reminded herself of her 'wilderness experiences' alongside Sasquatches.

"Well, if you can't take the heat," said Mabel, taking off her sweater and tying it around her waist and wiping her own sweat, "then enjoy the natural beauty! It might somehow help us find Grunkle Stan."

"How exactly does that help?" asked Dipper, wondering what the heck Mabel was talking about.

"The Elkron told me that if we are ever having trouble, look to land for answers, the Light is in all things," replied Mabel, jumping down from the boulder.

"Oh yeah, the Light," said Soos, nodding and smiling, "The thing that makes us who we are."

All of a sudden, the sound of grunting and scuffling was heard coming from nearby bushes, just 10 meters away. It made a startled Mabel jump into Soos's arms.

"Oh boy, what've we got here?" questioned Wendy, cautious at what wild being this could be.

"Don't worry, my dear," assured Dipper, petting Wendy's hand gently, "If it's friendly, we can get through."

Then, out of the bushes emerged a small group of strange, medium-sized, Pig-like hoofed Mammals at around 1 meter in body length. They had long legs, Pig-like snouts and long tusks. They were eating small fruits, roots, seeds, mushrooms, grasses, and even dug-up Earthworms, Arthropods, Gastropods and eggs of Birds and Lizards.

"A-are those piggies?" asked Mabel calmly and with raising excitement as Soos let her down out of his arms.

"Those don't look like typical farm Pigs," said Soos, interested.

"No way, those aren't Pigs at all," said Wendy, keeping her voice low so the grubbers would not hear her. "They look like...Peccaries."

"Peccaries, you say?" said Dipper, remembering something he recently read about, "Oh yeah, I think this species is in the book I brought along."

Dipper slowly got a Western United States native wildlife guide book out of his backpack and opened it up to the Mammal section. He found fact files on two genera of Peccary and the one he was searching for was the long-legged type living in the Pacific Northwest. These were Leidy's Peccaries, _Platygonus vetus_ , a fast-running species with longer tusks than most other Peccaries outside its genus.

"D-dudes, Th-they might treat u-us as enemies," stuttered Soos, feeling nervous from when the Peccaries opened their mouths to chew and yawn, revealing their long canine tusks on both their lower and upper jaws.

Just as Soos said this, one Leidy's Peccary looked up from feeding to see the four young Humans 10 meters away (though Mabel had gotten a little closer from curiosity, making it 9 meters from her). Being very wary of the their kind, it rubbed its tusks together, making a clattering noise to warn the Humans not to get too close to the herd.

"Yep, that's a warning alright," said Wendy, holding Dipper's hand worryingly after he put the book back in the backpack. "N-not that I'm unsure if we'll make it passed or not."

"Mabel, don't get so close!" urged Dipper to Mabel in a low tone of voice in order to not startle the Peccaries.

"What's that, bro?" asked Mabel in her regular tone of voice as she turned her head toward the others (now really worried with her raising her tone of voice in front of the cautious Peccaries).

The individual that gave them the warning got more agitated. It clattered its tusks again and even made a few low grunts and stomping on the ground. Suddenly understanding this, Mabel backed away back to her comrades. "Maybe they don't want to be friends after all."

* * *

Later on, after their encounter with the Leidy's Peccaries, Dipper, Mabel, Soos and Wendy had found a large pond, just in time to quench their thirsts. After scooping up some water in their hands and rubbing it on their faces and necks, Dipper got out four individual water bottles out of his backpack that he had brought for the journey. Once the bottles were filled, Soos immediately stumbled and collapsed under the shade of a convenient Western Juniper, startling a now irritated pair of 6.5-inch-long, reddish-black/gray Mouse-like Rodents out of the way.

"Oh boy! Now _that_ is some serious heat and walking, dudes!"

Suddenly, Soos felt small yet painful bite clench part of his arm. Quickly stood up and yelped in shock. One of the two little Rodents from before was clinging onto him with its large, gnawing incisors. "Hey! Get off me little dude!" Soos shook the small Rodent off, it landed on the ground, rejoined with its mate, and both made a sort of "howling" squeak at Soos, which successfully repelled him away back to his three friends.

"Gang, I don't think that that tree's available for us to rest under," commented a now worried Soos, looking at the bite he just got and feeling worried about ever encountering small Rodents like these again.

"What kind of mousies are those?" asked Mabel curiously, looking back at the tree shade territory of the mated pair of unusually aggressive small Rodents (who had now gone back into their hidden burrow to sleep for the rest of the day).

"They're definitely not the friendly Meadow Voles we Americans all know and love," said Wendy with a chuckle.

"I've seen these in the guide book," said Dipper, "They're called Northern Grasshopper Mice, or Killer Mice. They are mostly carnivorous, very territorial, mainly nocturnal and have rather distinct behaviors, as you can see. They eat seeds, small Insects, other small Rodents, and even Snakes. "

"So where are we going to get shade?" asked Wendy, checking arms for sunburns, "I think my skin is really needing it."

"Why not that one?" asked Mabel, pointing at another convenient large Juniper nearby with shade beneath it and a Prairie Falcon perched on the very top, eating a Pygmy Rabbit it had just killed.

"Alright, why not?" said everyone else in unison and they all quickly sat down under the shrubby tree's shade, also making sure that there were no Grasshopper Mouse homes to disturb. The feeling of the shade after a while of trekking through the blazing sun felt wonderful to them all, especially now that they had full bottles of water to add to their heat situation.

After a few minutes of sitting, drinking water an gossiping in low murmurs, they saw something interesting approach the pond to drink. A small group of 4 to 5-foot long Pronghorns came to the water and began drinking it immediately since they had traveled far. They were then joined by some very unexpected (to the Humans, that is) larger Even-Toed Ungulates, measuring 7 feet tall to the shoulder: Western Camels.

"Ca-Camels?!" blurted out Mabel (quietly as she could as to not cause any stampedes) in wonder and delight.

"Yep, that's what they look like," added Soos, smiling with interest, "But they don't got much for humps." Soos said this for he noted the fact that the large herbivores had relatively shorter humps than their Old World cousins, being a little close to that of an entirely humpless Llama.

"So, these are like ice age survivors?" Wendy asked curiously, turning her attention to Dipper and made a cute expression to encourage him.

"Yeah, they are," said Dipper, getting out the book again, as well as blushing slightly from Wendy's little flirt, "Western Camels, _Camelops hesternus_. An opportunistic herbivore; eating any Plants that are available. Being limited to grazing, this species eats mixed species of Plants, including coarse shrubs growing in coastal southern California. Western Camels and other species in its genus can travel long distances. It's got the ability to exist for long periods without water, just like other Camelids."

"Looks like they like hanging with their Pronghorn buddies!" commented Mabel happily, "Just like how I like to hang out with the Squirrels back in the woods!"

* * *

Later that sunset, Dipper, Mabel, Wendy and Soos were now quite relaxed under the big Western Juniper. They had eaten the snacks Dipper had brought in his backpack for dinner. Moths and Mosquitoes were now out flying frequently while Bats of numerous species (like Pallid Bats and Hoary Bats) were emerging from their daytime slumber and catching many of the Insects while on the wing. Ord's Kangaroo Rats and Great Basin Pocket Mice also came out as the light dimmed. Common Nighthawks were also emerging at this twilight hour, actively looking for food and making conspicuous nasally calls. _Peent_ , _beernt._

Soos was already fast asleep, his head against a soft pillow of grass. Wendy was looking at the guidebook, for her curiosity of this wide open land's inhabitants had really peaked her interest.

Dipper was looking at the map of the High Desert, learning about how the land was divided up. He learned it was divided into a southern region and a northern region, the desert covering most of five Oregon counties and averages 4,000 feet above sea level. The southwest region is part of the Great Basin and the southeast is the lower Owyhee River watershed. The northern region is part of the Columbia Plateau, where there is somewhat more rainfall.

"Say, Dipper," asked Mabel, briefly interrupted by her own yawn, "How come we can't find another town to stay in for the night?"

"Well, for one thing, we don't have any money on us," said Dipper, rubbing his eyes and storing the map back into the backpack. "Also, we're kind of desperate to rescue the old man. So we need all the time we need to have proper sleep without complications so we can continue our journey."

"Pretty clever, Dip," commented Wendy with a smile, while putting the book back in the backpack at the same time.

They knew it might get cold tonight since the day had been very hot, so they decided they had to sleep close together for warmth. Yes, they were to sleep in a heap. Mabel laid her head back against Soos's gut like a pillow while Dipper and Wendy did the same, but cuddling close together with their arms wrapped around each other. Mabel smiled at this, and they all were fast asleep. And they continued this position into the night.

Sleeping under a shrubby tree near a waterhole-pond at night was a relatively safe place to be. An American Badger, out for a late night snack, roamed past the sleeping group, completely uninterested. Nearby, the low-pitched but loud call of a Great Horned Owl perched in another Western Juniper not that far away was heard. _Ho-ho-hoo hoo hoo._ A brownish, 1-foot-long Western Harvest Mouse scurried over and sniffed them curiously, obviously being a less threatening Rodent than its Grasshopper Mouse cousins. Crouching low nearby in a small thicket was a 3-foot-long Bobcat, completely ignoring the sleeping Humans and focusing on the little Cricetid.


	6. The Herd and the Lesson

As the four companions slept comfortably together throughout the night under the big Western Juniper near the waterhole, two unseen beings from the black expanse around them approached cautiously. They spoke quietly to each other in a strange language.

"Shall we light a torch?" asked one of the two shaded, upright beings to its comrade.

"No, we will rely on the moonlight," replied the second being.

Their eyes focused on the four sleeping Humans and adjusted as they let the moon's light shine down.

"Yes," concluded the first of the two, "these are the ones we were sent to eliminate by our king."

"I wonder what Humans taste like...," pondered the second.

"That sounds completely unbecoming to me," said a new, deeper voice from nowhere. Then, out of the darkness, came a tall figure that looked strikingly similar to an Elkron of the forestlands.

The two dark-skinned beings jumped at the sight of the taller entity and retreated in panic, running as fast as they could. The tall Elkron-like being then vanished as well.

* * *

Hours later, dawn was just starting to appear over the western horizon. The first few early signs of diurnal birdsong and Insects buzzing were beginning to appear, slowly. Two or three faraway Elk letting out loud, echoing bugles. The distant high-pitched howl of Coyote was also heard.

A Red Fox, out for its early morning hunt, crept towards the four Humans, wondering what things like them were doing far from the nearest civilization, perhaps from exile, or so it would assume. Just as it sniffed Wendy, it saw the teen girl twitch her arm around Dipper and backed up in alarm. The fox then decided to leave the Humans alone and not steal anything from them, instead it was to search for food elsewhere.

The rays of sunlight soon touched Dipper, Mabel, Wendy and Soos's faces, waking them up. They yawned and stretched out their limbs and backs.

"What a sleep!" commented Soos, blinking in the sunlight. "I dreamt that I was in like the world's biggest buffet!"

"I dreamt I was a jungle girl!" giggled Mabel. "It was incredible!"

"I dreamt about you, Wendy, your grace and elegance," said Dipper to Wendy, shyly.

"Oh, Dipper! You little flatterer!" said Wendy happily, but still a little drowsy, giving Dipper a hug around his body and a kiss on the nose. "I dreamt about...well...the recent times I've had to deal with..."

She told her three companions how her dream was simply a flashback to a week ago, how it showed the other middle teenagers commenting on her recent advanced relationship with a preteen. They had said things like _Are you babysitting or something?_ But she always responded by saying that Dipper was her understanding boyfriend and she was proud of it.

* * *

After eating some snacks Dipper had brought I his pack for breakfast, refilling their bottles with the waterhole's water, the four companions moved on, following the marked route on the map. At some point, Mabel saw a Black-Tailed Jackrabbit grazing on the grasses and wanted to hug it. Wendy, however, told her to leave the Hare alone since she knew about how startled Hares and rabbits could be from her experiences in the woodlands. Mabel attempted to do the same thing again with a Common Gray Fox that was devouring a vole and some additional berries, but what stopped from hugging it by her brother and friends. Soon, Mabel's naïve attempts to instantly tame wild beasts would end up turning upside-down.

All of a sudden, just as the team arrived on the top of a hill to get a better view of the land in their search for Stanford, the ground felt like it was trembling a little.

"What's happening? An Earthquake?" asked Soos, feeling worried.

"Is it my dad at his most infuriated?" suggested Wendy unsurely.

"Or some dark force after us?" said Dipper in confusion to this trembling ground.

"Nope, none of those," said Mabel, spotting the cause of the thundering vibrations that were getting closer and closer. "Just some weird dust cloud in the distance."

The strange cloud of dust, close to the ground and approaching swiftly in the faraway distance. A dust storm? As it got closer, they were surprised to see what it really was. It was a traveling large herd of American Plains Bison, all in their lighter brown summer coats, seeking fresh grazing.

"Lookie there! Bovines!" pointed out Mabel in delight, "Wild Bison!"

"Be sure not to stir them up into a stampede," Dipper cautiously said. "The last thing we want is to be crushed by all those hooves!"

"Wow, some of the most common herbivores in all of North America," said Soos with admiration. "Say, Wendy, do you know how to talk to them?"

"Well, the woods where we all come from are too dense for them, so I've never encountered any until now," said Wendy, "I'm still trying to comprehend the majesty of these things!" A tear of admiration started to slowly appear.

"Well, they have been known to partly dwell in lightly wooded areas," said Dipper, recounting his teachings at school. He then looked to see his older girlfriend actually beginning to shed a tear, not of sadness, but something much more meaningful. "Wendy, a-are you..."

"Such b-beauty. Such magnificence!" stuttered Wendy, sniffing, getting a little chocked up, but still smiling. "I tell you, living in the wilds for a while has really got me thinking on how wonderful, beautiful and precious life really is."

"You're starting to speak my language!" said Mabel, starting to feel a little emotional herself and hugging Wendy.

"It is all definitely beautiful," said Soos, rubbing one of his eyes, "Dipper, I-I think I'm going to cry as well. Help!"

"It's okay, Soos," said Dipper reassuringly, placing his hand on Soos's arm, "I'm feeling this good natural pride myself."

Truly, being out here was really having our heroes think about how precious this redeemed world of theirs actually was. The mood began to raise up even more when a small number of American Robins flew in to feed on the small invertebrates being kicked up from the ground by the lumbering Bison.

Suddenly, flying over the nearby small line of trees, appeared a large, crow-sized Falcon with a blue-gray back, barred white underparts, and a black head. This was none other than one of the fastest-moving Animals on the planet, a Peregrine Falcon.

"Oo! Dipper!" said Mabel excitedly, "Do you think I can ever be a falconer?"

"Maybe not with this Falcon in particular," said Dipper thoughtfully.

That's when the Peregrine Falcon suddenly dive-bombed down from the air at an incredible speed and instantly snagged of the feeding robins from within the Bison herd, impaling the smaller Bird alive with its talons. It then perched on a nearby boulder to feed on its now dead catch.

"That...was scary, yet awesome," spoke Soos, perplexed by what had just happened.

"I haven't seen birds of prey do that kind of hunting technique before!" said Wendy, amazed as well.

Dipper then glanced over at his sister to find her wide-eyed and openmouthed. Clearly she had just witnessed something that was far too strong for her to comprehend.

"I'm guessing that this is one of the first times you've actually seen a predator kill its prey," he asked her, somewhat not convinced by Mabel's reaction.

"I-I-I...it...c-ca-catch...!" stammered a now mentally-scarred Mabel.

"Well then," Dipper said, patting her on the back, now feeling like he should tell Mabel the truth on natural life. "You should know that predators killing and eating prey is part of the great circle of life."

"He's right you know, Mabes," added Wendy, feeling the same as Dipper in that Mabel should know a life truth. "Eat or be eaten is part of the law of survival. I totally know this from my woodland foster family's teachings."

"I learned that sort of thing when I was 6," added Soos, twiddling his thumbs a little shyly, "Before, I thought predators and prey were just playing tag with their teeth and/or beaks."

Mabel definitely had much to learn and comprehend.

* * *

Meanwhile with Stan, he was sitting on a wooden stool in a shaded place with no idea what he was doing, nor what was going on right then. The mysterious beings that had kidnapped him had now forced him to mix an herbal concoction in a small clay pot with a thick stick.

"Sooo...why can't you guys do this yourselves?" asked the old man in confusion.

"You will soon discover the answer," responded a low and mysterious voice from the shadows, "For now, be silent and continue your assignment."

* * *

Knowing not to startle all the feeding Bison, the young group gently made their way around the herd to not draw any harmful attention. Two or three Bison did indeed notice the four travelers and were still cautious, for they knew that young Humans can sometimes serve as scouts for adult hunters. This time was especially critical for the herbivores because it was already the middle of their mating season, and they did not want any predators (especially Humans) attacking them, or else there would be big trouble.

Mabel was still trying to understand that the food chain always has and always will be part of life. It was hard and shocking for her to process, but her brother and friends knew that she'd see it through. Pretty soon, something to help her in easing out of her new emotional pain was about to arrive.


	7. The Report and the Brook

Stan was still a hostage. He was now kept in a cramped stone cell by his captors. _Why couldn't they have gotten someone else in the family with supernatural knowledge to do this?_ The old man thought to himself. Suddenly, he heard the leader of these elven beings speaking with two scouts of his kin.

"So you failed to kill the aged Human man's rescuers?" questioned the king. "Your reason?"

"W-we were ambushed!" cried one of the two scouts, "We attempted to get rid of those Human youngsters last night, as you commanded us to, but out of nowhere came...a..."

"A Campestribus Elkron...," finished the second scout, serious in his tone of voice, "It protected them and we were no match for it!"

"Did you even put up a fight?" questioned the king.

The two scouts fell silent from this question.

* * *

After their introduction with the Bison, the robins and the Falcon, the four moved on across an open grassy area of the high desert, where they saw some Turkey Vultures soar high overhead, and a few Greater Sage-Grouses among the grass and rocks feeding on sagebrush and Insects. The team were still following the marked coordinates on Dipper's scroll-like map. Soos whistled happily, almost getting a feel for adventure like Davy Crockett. Dipper and Wendy held hands. Mabel was still trying to get over her shock at actually seeing a predator killing and eating prey.

"You must be so much more used to seeing the food chain," Mabel asked Wendy.

"I sure am," said Wendy in agreement, "especially since I had to catch plenty of Insects and other smaller critters to add protein to that mostly berry diet I had with the Sasquatches."

"I'm curious about your forest friends," intervened Soos. "It's neat you befriended porcupines, doves, a Snake or two, and even a Moose!"

"Oh yeah, Hottah!" said Wendy with sudden smile on her face, "He's a cool young Moose who liked to roughhouse a lot, like what I sometimes like to do. Though his mom and sister didn't like to see me playing with him. It must have something to do with that age-old conflict Moose and Humans have always had."

"That makes your friendship with Hottah very unlikely," said Dipper observantly, "...almost forbidden."

"At least he's seen that our kind can be friendly," said Wendy, feeling proud, "He'll definitely grow up to be a fine bull Moose one day and he'll probably show his kids that light side of Humans."

"I wonder if that'll apply to all big herbivores," suggested Soos, "It could be some kind of peace celebration, maybe."

Suddenly, the loud call of trumpet-like bellow was heard, startling Dipper, Mabel, Wendy and Soos all at once. It sounded a little familiar to them.

"Mastodons again?" wondered Soos, his heart beating fast from the surprise of it.

"Probably not," said Dipper, "They don't live in open dry places like this."

"I think we're about to find out what it is...," said Wendy ominously.

There, approaching from the south and up a slope was a small herd of quite large beasts, weighing up to 18,000-22,000 pounds. They appeared to be a sort of Elephant with muscular trunks and very long tusks (ranging from 11-13 feet long), which were more curved than those of most other Elephants. They were like Woolly Mammoths, but larger. They were 13 feet tall at the shoulder and had very little hair on their bodies (less dense than a Woolly Mammoth due to a warmer environment). These beings were truly a sight to a behold. Small numerous Birds rode on their backs, pecking off any tiny parasites found.

"Columbian Mammoths...!" exclaimed Dipper in delight, but kept his voice as low as he could as to not cause any obliviousness to the giants. With such great power and strength these herbivores possessed, it gave Mabel a feeling of calmness and realization that not all prey are doomed to predators. But she did have to except the fact that even baby Mammoths (recalling from reading an Animal book when she was little) are vulnerable to predators and can be protected by adults.

That is when Mabel spotted a strange object lying on the dusty ground and amongst being entirely concealed by the scattered blades of grass. It was, at the moment, being covered by the Mammoths' shadows as they passed. As always, her curiosity was going to get the best of her.

"What's that?" she said with a smile of curiosity, walking a few steps forward and reaching her arm out to grab the object.

"Mabel, wait!" exclaimed Dipper, accidently making himself a little bit loud enough to be heard by the passing Columbian Mammoths.

At this, the matriarch of the passing herd, slowed her pace and kept a wary eye on the four young Humans. Luckily, the Mabel stopped and, like her friends and brother, knew better than to get too close to such a large and powerful herbivore.

* * *

As soon as the Columbian Mammoth herd had passed, Mabel immediately rushed over to the mysterious object she so desperately wanted to see. She picked it up, accidently startling a nearby Desert Horned Lizard, and looked carefully at it. It was made of rock and carved in a pointed sharp. Dipper, Wendy and Soos came over to see the object too.

"Does this seem to ring a bell?" asked Mabel.

"Whatever this thing is, it wasn't carved by any erosion," said Soos, looking keenly at the pointed stone thing.

"It looks like spear point," said Wendy, realizing what the carved object truly was. "Who do you think made it? Those Dark Elves we're looking for?"

"Nope, it's Human-made," said Dipper, examining the spearhead once Mabel passed it to him. "Paiute, by the looks of it."

The group now wondered, while on their mission to save Stan, if they would happen to encounter such an interesting people.

* * *

As they moved onwards through this hot and almost arid land, the group came upon a rising hill that overlooked something they had been looking for in their surviving need: a small brook!

Already drinking at this water source were a couple different nonhuman Animals. A Common Porcupine was refreshing itself there, alongside two Great Blue Herons, a small herd of Mule Deer, a Harlan's Ground Sloth, a couple of Western Toads, a few Western Fence Lizards, an approaching loner male Columbian Mammoth and even what appeared to be small herd of 7 or 8 Horses arriving.

"Horsies!" said Mabel in excitement.

"Are they mustangs?" asked Wendy.

"Maybe not," said Soos, "I was recently hearing that those feral mustang Horses were being rounded up."

"They're a different species of _Equus_ " said Dipper with observant eyes focused on the Equids. "Those are Leidy's Horses, _Equus pacificus._ They are obviously not to be ridden."

And so the four went down the hill and came to the brook's edge to quench their thirsts. Dipper and Wendy scooped up some of the water in their hands and rubbed it on their faces to cool themselves off while Soos and Mabel refilled their bottles. The other Animals knew that young Humans might present a problem and so kept a watch on them.

Little did any of them realize that there was trouble ahead.


	8. Predator Onslaught

As the four departed from the brook after refreshing themselves, many of the other residents at the water's edge started to act a little agitated. They were feeling something dangerous not too far away. To make matters worse, it was already hiding in a dense underbrush, stalking Dipper, Mabel, Wendy and Soos. Its golden eyes stared intently at them while it hid among the shrubs.

* * *

Meanwhile, Stan was now being forced by his elven captors to shake a wooden container of grounded-up herbal mixtures. He sat on a stool as he did this in the dark. He mostly worried about how the money in the cash register back at the Mystery Shack was at the moment.

"So tell me again," asked Stan in frustration, "Why can't you do all this yourselves?"

"Your hidden arrogance combined with your negative emotional energy empowers the concoction," answered the Dark Elf king from within the shadows, at that moment letting his menacing red eyes shine in the darkness.

"Are you sure you couldn't have gotten some other Human in my family with knowledge of the unseen?" asked Stan, "For example, you could try my bro-"

"SILENCE!" hissed the king in interruption, frightening the old man. "You will focus on this concoction or else you will die with multiple regrets!"

* * *

After clearing another rise, the four travelers saw something that was not what it seemed. There was a community of burrows occupied by different individual California Ground Squirrels, their heads and bodys being about 1 foot long and the tail an additional 6 inches. These foraging Rodents were being secretly territorial for the Humans' eyes.

"Aww! Squirrelies!" commented Mabel.

"I don't think we should get so close to them," said Soos worryingly, "Ever since our encounter with the Grasshopper Mice, I'm now concerned on how tough Rodents might actually be!"

"I know how Squirrels think from living in the woods years ago," said Wendy in an assuring way, "Maybe I can ask them for directions."

"Asking Squirrels for directions?" questioned Soos as Wendy moved towards the particular Ground Squirrel community. "Sounds ridiculous"

"But not with her...," said Dipper, feeling love-struck by Wendy's usual enthusiasm.

After approaching one male Squirrel on some vegetation, Wendy crouched down and tried to speak to him. "Hey, buddy. Excuse me?"

The Rodent looked at Wendy in surprise. "What!? A talking Human?"

"Relax, dude!" said the girl with reassurance, "I know how to speak to things like you. Anyway, do you know where there are any areas around here that have strange, paranormal activity going on in them? My friends and I need to know because an elder of ours was stolen by one of these forces."

"Paranormal, huh?" pondered the Squirrel. "I'm not quite sure. You could ask the Campestribus-"

He suddenly stopped and he and the rest of his community looked around in alarm. They could smell something that the Humans couldn't.

"The Camp-o-what?" asked Wendy in confusion. But the Squirrel did not continue. Instead, he and the others of his kind were scurrying around in a big commotion, as if preparing for something to attack.

"What's going on down there?" called Dipper. "Did you scare them?"

"No way!" responded Wendy, looking back up the small slope. "I think they're protecting themselves from something else."

Just on time came the reason for the California Ground Squirrel pandemonium. Slithering over another slope came a 4-foot-long Northern Pacific Rattlesnake, of Great Basin subspecies, it blotch-patterned back shining in the sun. Wendy backed away and to her friends, amazed that these Squirrels were acting brave enough to protect themselves and their offspring from the venomous Snake as it slithered in and the Rodents squeaked at it in defensive aggression.

"Imagine," said Soos in awe, "A species of Squirrel that's daring enough to battle something as deadly as a rattlesnake."

"I'd ally with these little guys any time," said Mabel in delight.

* * *

Suddenly, just as the four were leaving the Squirrel-and-Snake battleground, Dipper immediately sensed something else nearby and twitched. Since he and his sister, friend and girlfriend had been outdoors for quite a while, their natural survival instincts had been increasing. Then, a few minutes afterwards, all four of them began to sense an unsettling presence, especially since it was heard moving in the nearby Juniper bushes.

Then, the beast that had been stalking them for sometime now poked its large head out of the bushes and snarled.

"It's a Lion!" squeaked Mabel in fright.

"You mean a Cougar, or Mountain Lion, right Mabes?" asked Soos in worry.

"Not at all!" she replied, "It's not a Mountain Lion, it's a _Lion_ Lion!"

Mabel was right, the great Felid emerged out of the bushes, revealing its whole body. It was indeed an actual male Lion, with a mane and everything, measuring 8 feet long from head to body and standing 4 feet at the shoulder. He was certainly a very large specimen.

"But, wha-what's a Lion doing a-around here?" nervously asked Wendy, trying to get her courage together.

"That's obviously the New World subspecies!" said Dipper in both awe and fear, "The American Lion, _Panthera leo atrox_."

The great Lion growled ferociously at the group, knowing that young Humans loyally serve adult Human hunters. Once the group backed away from him in fear, he realized that they were not serving as scouts for any adults of their own kind but instead pretty much just simple lost youngsters, far from home. This would make them easy targets. With a roar he sent the four packing, running as fast as their legs could carry them. Wendy moved the most gracefully with her long legs and grifted natural agility. Dipper and Mabel were close behind but poor Soos was a little far behind, for his girth was slowing him down.

"Uhh...guys? A little please!" panted Soos, trying not to give up, knowing that a large Felid, specifically the 'king of the beasts', was gaining on him and his friends.

After running down a rocky slope, the four assumed that the rocks would slow the Lion down. They all stopped to catch their breath. "I guess that Lion would prefer to be a loser now than a sore loser later," said Mabel with a bit of humor on her face.

"I think we lost him," said Dipper, wiping his sweaty forehead.

"Let's...hope...so...pal," panted Soos, fanning himself with his own hat.

"Well, it can't get any worse than this," said Wendy, hoping that they were not going to meet any other large predators when obviously they were.

After pushing through some Western Junipers, they found a dead female Elk with something big scavenging her corpse. The beast stopped eating and looked up at the Humans, a pieace of Elk flesh still dangling from its mouth. It was a massive, dark-colored Bear with a proportionally short snout, 6 feet high to the shoulder while on all fours. Recognizing them as Humans, the great Bear stood upright to look more menacing, being 10 feet tall on its hind legs.

"A Giant Short-Faced Bear...," muttered Dipper in worry. "There's not point in hiding from it right now since it has a keen sense of smell."

The Short-Faced Bear roared at the four in order to just scare them off and leave it alone. But just as our heroes turned around to retreat, in came the Lion from before. They immediately ran in a different direction as the great-sized Lion and the great-sized Bear began to squabble with one another over the dead Elk.


	9. Death Wings and Help on the Horizon

The four friends were now sitting underneath a large tree's shade, contemplating on how perilous their journey to find Grunkle Stan was becoming while a small convey flock of California Quails fed nearby. A small group of Pygmy Rabbits snuck past them in the nearby underbrush. They had just encountered two great nonhuman Mammalian beasts and nearly had their heads stricken off from one of the two's claws. They didn't know if the Giant Short-Faced Bear and the American Lion were still fighting over that Elk carcass, and they did no dare to go back and find out.

"Life looks more gruesome out here now," said Mabel, still trying to catch her breath.

"If only we could reach Mr. Pines sooner," sighed Soos, wiping sweat from his forehead.

"Well, as we stated earlier," said Dipper, "It's all part of the natural order."

"I sure know that...," said Wendy, thoughtfully. She had been outdoors for a quite a while that she was getting a beautiful and understanding feeling that she had felt before back when she was temporarily fostered by Sasquatches. As she spoke she slowly hugged Dipper, caressing his torso, making him blush, especially when she lay a kiss on his cheek. "You know, I wonder if my family has even noticed that I've gone by now. Maybe not. And I wonder if and how some of the woodland-dwelling nonhumans will react to my dad since they've started to figure out he's a lumberjack."

* * *

As Wendy said this, her assumption was turning out to be actually happening. Back in the great woodland that surrounded Gravity Falls, Manly Dan was preparing his axe, getting ready to cut down a small Grand Fir. Suddenly he paused, for he felt like there were other beings nearby, watching him.

"Hello?" he called out. "Someone there?"

Just as he returned to his focus, he ended up not chopping the small Fir tree. He was prevented from doing so by something tapping at the back of his neck. It was a male Pileated Woodpecker, who had just flown in and pecked Dan on the back of his neck six quick times in a row to throw him off guard while he wasn't looking. When the lumberjack turned around to see what the heck just happened, rubbing his neck from the sudden pain, the Woodpecker had already flown for cover so he would not be seen. As he was distracted, two Douglas Squirrels (a male and a female) rushed in and jumped on Dan's hands, making him suddenly drop the axe from surprise (and dart back up another tree quickly before they were seen), causing the tool to fall and break in half once it hit the ground. Once Dan saw what had happened to his axe, now unable to cut throw a tree, his suddenly felt his pants unbutton and fall down to his feet, leaving him standing in his boxers. He covered himself in embarrassment. Behind him, a female Common Raccoon grinned mischievously, for she had been the one to pull Manly Dan's trousers down.

"Wh-what's going on here?" questioned Dan out loud, feeling insecure.

He then saw the four small Animals that had done his to him appear on top of a medium-sized rock. The Woodpecker, two Squirrels and Raccoon - feeling proud of what they had done in robbing a 'tree-killer' of dignity - laughed all together (sounding like squeaks, growing chattering and chirps to the Human).

* * *

Back out on the High Desert, Wendy still wondered if this all were really happening.

"Oh wait, I almost forgot to tell you guys!" spoke Wendy in immediate surprise. "Those California Ground Squirrels I talked to, they said we might find help in asking the Camp-something or other."

"I wonder what they were going to say to finish that statement," said Dipper, touching his chin in thought.

"Yeah, and...," added Mabel, only to be interrupted by a strange smell slithering up her nostrils. "Whoa! Alright, who let one loose?"

"Wasn't me," said Soos, immediately looking into his backpack, "It's just this." Out of it, he pulled out a wad of rabbit meat that he had oddly brought with him.

"What the heck, Soos?" questioned Wendy, "Where did you get that dead rabbit from and why?"

"I found it when we first came here to this dry place," answered Soos, "I didn't tell any of you dudes, because you might of thought I was being weird, taking a carcass to save it for later to eat."

"That's kind of disgusting, definitely," said Dipper, feeling a bit perplexed, "But out here, that can serve as good protein. We've been eating mostly fruit on this quest, and we definitely need to some meat to balance it out. Sounds odd, but it's true."

All of a sudden, an uninvited taker of dead meat was approaching the group. It was not approaching on the ground, but in the air. Soaring overhead was a mighty California Condor with a 9.8-foot wingspan. It was a full-grown adult that was a uniform black with the exception of large triangular patches or bands of white on the underside of the wings. It had gray legs and feet, an ivory-colored bill, a frill of black feathers surrounding the base of the neck, and brownish red eyes. Its head and neck had few feathers. The group stopped their chewing of the rabbit to see this great flying carnivore coming in to land in front of them, hissing calmly.

"Hello, sir!" said Mabel to the condor, feeling neighborly.

"Mabel, that's a California Condor!" whispered Dipper and being serious while doing it, "It will be very rude in trying to take our rabbit lunch from us!"

"Sorry, condor-dude, but you'll have to find your own food," said Soos, putting his hand up in a gesture to say: _N_ o _._

The condor just grunted and lifted its massive wings as a threat. It was threatening enough to make the group scoot back a little more into the tree's shade, including Wendy, who felt as though something had to be done. "This is a really big problem, gang," she muttered nervously.

Suddenly, something different broke the conflict. A loud squawk of a much larger bird of prey was heard and the condor took to the air, off to find food elsewhere so it would not have to compete with this approaching rival. It arrived, landing softly on the ground, revealing itself to be a much bigger relative of the California Condor. It was a massive Woodburn Teratorn with a wingspan of over 14 feet.

"Tha-tha-that's a r-really b-b-b-bigger c-c-cousin of the co-co-condor!" stuttered Soos.

"I-I," babbled Wendy, also stuttering from fear. Even her bravery from her father's side of her family could not help her to stand up to this great flying predator/scavenger.

"Nobody make any sudden movements," whispered Dipper, "It probably won't see us if we blend into this tree's shade and don't move a muscle."

Despite this, Mabel naïvely tried befriending the gigantic bird of prey by standing up, walking forward a few steps and waving to it. "Hello, Teratorn! My, what a long beak you have!"

The Tertorn only grunted and hissed loudly at the preteen girl, raising its mighty wings to appear more fearsome, causing poor little Mabel to fall back onto her back in a startled feeling. This threat display of the Woodburn Teratorn was far more threatening to the four young Humans than the California Condor's threat display.

"Shall we run for our lives now?" suggested Dipper. No one disagreed with him with nods and managed to quickly get back on their feet and began to rush off.

"You won't get this rabbit from us!" Soos shouted at the Teratorn, which was now pumping its wings for takeoff and running after the Humans, similar to an airplane beginning to take to the air.

The great bald-headed Bird was now aloft with a squawk of determination, relying on a sudden large air current that appeared to literally be in the air. It was now well prepared as it chased the four young travelers. As the chase was on, a group of feeding Yellow-Bellied Marmots saw the approaching Humans and Teratorn and immediately zoomed for cover.

"Soos!" shouted Dipper, "Just give it the rabbit carcass already! We all ate our equal shares! Now give the Teratorn the rest!"

"But what if-" started Soos.

"Just do it Soos!" shouted Wendy, "Your life's at stake!"

"The Native Americans must know how to deal with these huge Birds!" added Mabel. "Maybe you should give up the bunny, Soos!"

Soos finally realized that he had no choice at all and tossed the dead rabbit behind and the Teratorn immediately came to a clumsy landing in order to finally take its intended meal. The four stopped and collapsed on top of a large boulder, catching their breaths and sweating and looked back at the Woodburn Teratorn now devouring the dead rabbit. It held down the body with its talons and ripped off pieces of meat with its large, long beak.

"If only we had some really traditional Humans, like you said Mabel, to help guide us now," said Dipper, with Wendy hugging him for comfort.

"Hey, what's that?" pointed out Mabel, looking to the south.

Her brother and friends looked and saw something very strange yet quite familiar. A trio of 6-foot-tall figures, upright an bipedal in stance, were approaching over the not too faraway rise. They were Humans. But not just any Human, they were a sort of traditional Native American people. Against all odds, the sight of fellow members of their own species filled Dipper, Mabel, Wendy and Soos with a sort of joy that they had no name for.

"Looks like help's arrived!" mused Soos with a smile.

"Especially after nearly getting mauled by a gigantic vulture cousin," said Wendy, also smiling.

* * *

Back with Stan, he now lay in the dimly-lit dark in a fetal position. He was now extremely worried if this was how his life was going to end.

"Why are you not working, Human?" shouted the sharp and deep voice of the Dark Elf king, now approaching Stan from behind.

"I-I'm just, you know...unhappy right now, Elf-man," muttered Stan, turned his head he now could see a somewhat better view of what a Dark Elf looked like despite the lowlight all around him.

The king, like the rest of his kin, had dark gray skin, long pointed ears, slant dark red eyes and stood 7.5 feet tall. He wore a garment that looked like it was made from stolen fabric from Humans.

"And what could there be to make you feel more comfortable to work in these conditions?" asked the Elf, planning on deceiving Stan with false compassion and deceptive understanding.


	10. Tókhi wániphika ní!

It did not take long for these local Humans to see the four young ones in distress and lost (during the Teratorn's attacking pursuit, Dipper had accidently lost grip of the map to a sudden wind gust). With kind hand gestures, due to language difficulties, Dipper asked the three men to take them to the best shelter they knew. Sadly, one of the Paiute hunters made it clear that their village was not that very accepting of outsiders at the moment (obviously due to territorial issues with settlers). Luckily, they did give the four young ones a bit of confidence by telling them to always look for hope in their darkest hour, including in this one since an elder of theirs was in distress. And so, taking these words meaningfully, our heroes moved on.

It had been a long day of hard traveling. The four once again settled down under a Western Juniper to rest for the approaching night. Soos gladly offered himself as like a pillow for his friends to rest their heads against. Dipper and Wendy huddled close together and began to cuddle.

"Do you think we'll ever find Grunkle Stan in time, Dipper?" Mabel asked her brother after a moment of silence.

"We'll definitely find him," replied Dipper calmly, "Sure, he's been selfish and not thinking of us before, but he's still family."

"I'm betting his inner family affection will magnetically draw him to you two," added Soos, hoping good things would come about for them all, "He might even give me and Wendy a raise!"

"You know, we might be miles away from home in a warm land, struggling for our lives while searching for Stan, but we're feeling more connected with our wild sides," commented Wendy, looking up at the great array of stars above, appearing just as the last bit of pink sunset light was sinking down over the western horizon, "and we're learning a lot on the way. And we're in this together. All of us." She then cuddled up to Dipper as she finished.

* * *

The next morning, the group was awoken by an unexpected, haunting cry. They were the mournful-sounding howls of wolves. But these did not sound exactly like the typical howls of Gray Wolves. Over the hill close by, silhouetted by the rising eastern dun, in wandered a hunting band of rather large wolves. These were Dire Wolves, averaging about 4.9 feet long.

"Will it ever end?" asked Soos, feeling so overwhelmed by all the predators he and his friends had encountered on this adventure.

Instead of attacking, though, the large wolves instantly recognized the group as Humans and wanted absolutely no trouble, thus they turned and retreated, in search of easier food. This was definitely an unbelievable stroke of luck for the four young ones. Wolves are quite often more afraid of their kind than the other way around.

Later that morning, after finding berries and Arthropods for breakfast, the group came to a small lake. Wading near the edges of the water were splendid-looking La Brea Storks. They stood over 4 feet tall and had wingspans up to 9 feet across.

"I was wondering," said Dipper, briefly looking at the Storks and other Birds near the lake, "How are we to react when we face a more serious threat in the Dark Elves, greater even than a great four-legged predator.

"We just hope for good fortune, I guess" Wendy guessed.

"Really?" asked both Mabel and Soos at once.

"Yeah, one of my old woodland friends, Pahin the porcupine, showed me how to live by it," answered Wendy casually with a smile - a smile that made Dipper's stomach feel like it had Butterflies in it - of good memories, "She told me to basically have...Tókhi wániphika ní. I'll tell you about it..."

* * *

(Flashback):

 _Twelve-year-old Wendy sat on in a small clearing in the forest with all her nonhuman friends. They were, of course, preadolescents like her._

 _"Tell us more about what a 'town' is like, Wendy!" one of her two young female Sasquatch friends asked her._

 _"Well, I've already told you about how my kind builds home..." pondered Wendy aloud._

 _"No offense, Wen, but your kin sound rather prideful," mumbled a young male Black-Chinned Hummingbird named Tah'nah nervously._

 _"Excuse me?" responded Wendy curiously._

 _"I mean they seem to think themselves better than the rest of the world," continued the little Bird._

 _"Hey, we're not all like that," Wendy assured Tah'nah, "Take me, for example."_

 _"Maybe, if we want humanity to respect the rest of the world more," explained Pahin the young female Common Porcupine, "We need to hope for...Tókhi wániphika ní!"_

 _"Tok-ee wa-who-na...ni?" replied Wendy in confusion at the words Pahin had just used._

 _"Oh no, don't encourage her!" moaned Sosho the young male Western Garter Snake._

 _"I'll tell you all about it!" Pahin said cheerfully, doing a little jig of excitement._

 _"Here we go again!" joked Hootah the young male Moose, preparing for the usual musical explanations that Pahin often did._

 _Pahin then began to sing in chorus while a number of Squirrels, Yellow-Billed Cuckoos and Belted Kingfishers:_

Tókhi wániphika ní!

Tókhi wániphika ní!

Life can sometimes feel like it's bringing you down

It can make you feel scared and give you a frown

Tókhi wániphika ní!

But try to ignore all that and wish for good luck

Tókhi wániphika ní!

It can be for anyone, from a Snake, to a Shrew, and duck!

Tókhi wániphika ní!

 _After the song was over, Wendy and the rest of the young'un Animals cheered and applauded._


	11. Closer, Thanks to Special Help

As sunset approached and the hot temperature dropped, Dipper looked again the marked position on the map and found that they were now really close to their destination. "We're really close now. We'll probably be there in the morning."

"Now we can finally save Mr. Pines and show him how loyal we can be, dudes!" said Soos.

"It'll definitely be nice to finally have the old man respect us a bit more," added Wendy, gently wrapping her arm around Dipper affectionately. She then turned her gentle gaze toward him. "And we couldn't have gotten him back thanks to your navigation, baby."

"Hey! Look!" shouted Mabel, pointing straight ahead.

Sleeping on top of a nearby boulder was a very familiar creature that also inhabits the woodlands back at their home. It was a Cougar. At 7 feet long, it was a truly magnificent specimen. At that same moment, the group noticed that up in the air were two large birds of prey. It was a mated pair of Golden Eagles. The male had a wing length from 23.3-25.2 inches. The female had a wing length that was from 23.7-26.5 inches.

"Looks like those eagles are hoping for the Cougar to wake up, kill us, and they can eat the leftovers," guessed Wendy.

All the group really had to do was tiptoe past the sleeping Feline, not waking it once as it snored. Suddenly, over the nearby rise, there appeared tall and bizarre figure. It was strange, yet oddly familiar.

It was an Elkron! A supernatural protector of nature that was outside of the forestlands. It was an unexpected sight to the four young ones. "So you have finally made it to your destination," spoke this tall male Elkron. "My name is Geeatro. I am an Elkron of the Campestribus breed. The plains-dwelling tribe."

"That's it!" said Wendy, "I almost forgot, the Ground Squirrels from earlier today were mentioning the Campe-thing to me before they were interrupted by that rattlesnake. I now see it's a kind of Elkron."

"I have encountered you four Human younglings last night by a pond, sleeping under a Juniper tree, being stalked by an infamous duo of Dark Elves. I frightened them off." said Geearto.

"Sort of creepy, but flattering!" said Mabel.

"Can you help us, Mr. Geearto dude?" asked Soos.

"You are all closer than you think," answered the Elkron, "Are you to save one of your own?"

"Yeah, me and my sisters' granduncle," said Dipper.

"Is that so..." said Geearto in wonder. "Wait...I feel something...a contact from beyond is coming!"

"Beyond?" the four young ones asked.

"Yes," said Geearto in a low voice, "from beyond the mortal plane. Also, I must mention that I know that the Dark Elf colony you seek is nearby, but I am not sure where exactly, mostly because they have mastered new twisted arts to somehow mask their base from my people's detection. Thus, I cannot smell them out. But maybe the voice I am hearing will tell us all about where to go."

And right there before the five of them, appearing a small cloud of mist that began to take was the shape of a woman who bared a sort of resemblance to both Wendy and her brothers.

"Wendy," said the apparition in a mysteriously calm voice, yet to Wendy it sounded strangely familiar, "You should certainly recognize me."

The teenage girl realized who this was and felt her heart swell from amazement and happiness. "M-Mom?"

"You're Mrs. Corduroy?" said Soos, amazed.

Dipper and Mabel were also speechless. "Dipper," muttered Mabel excitedly, "we are meeting our future mother in-law! Even though she's dead."

"I know where these Elves that hold Stanford Pines hostage are," spoke the spirit of Wendy's deceased mother. She rose her arms up and gestured them southwards with sparkles floating close to the ground at to indicate a sort of path.

"Thanks mom," said Wendy, shedding tears from both happiness and sorrow.


	12. Rescue?

On they went, the sparkly trail almost lighting up the dark blue night. It was strange for the four young ones to be guided by a the spirit of a long-lost person, but Wendy in particular found it calming since it was her mother. From this point, the new Elkron had departed without warning and knowing. Elkron have always been this mysterious for ages.

Not too long after, they finally arrived at their intended destination; a medium-sized mound of earth and vegetation.

"You have arrived at your goal," said the spirit of Wendy's mother. She then started to fade away.

"Wait, Mom! Don't go!" pleaded Wendy. She was just so happy to see her mom again after all this time that she didn't want to see her go so soon.

"I will always be with you, dearest Wendy. My beautiful and noble daughter..." said Mrs. Corduroy's spirit just as she finally faded away, back to the realm of remembered souls. Dipper now gently held Wendy's hand as a sign of love, to encourage her to believe that her mother was truly at peace, which she was.

"I wish I had that happen to me and my dead relatives more often," said Soos.

"Anyways, we made it!" exclaimed Mabel. "Grunkle Stan, we're here to save you from Dark Elves."

"But hold on," said Dipper, "How do we surprise them? How do we defeat them?"

"And shouldn't they come out when it's dark, since they're called 'Dark' Elves?" added Wendy.

Suddenly, there was an explosion of dirt in front of the four. A hole had just been opened in the mound by some Dark Elves. They looked at the four young Humans with their brownish-red eyes in both desperation, surprise and even relief.

"The old man's search party has arrived!" shouted one of the Elves.

"Thank goodness! We couldn't take it anymore!" said another.

"Uh... What's going on here?" asked Dipper. "Shouldn't you be wanting to keep us at bay? Why act all relieved to see us?"

"Because the one called Stanford Pines is driving us and our leader insane with his refusal to help us become conquerors and his constant ramblings about our moundhill's living conditions and about how much he misses his earned currency!"

"That can definitely drive everyone crazy," chuckled Mabel.

"Slam-dunk there!" added Wendy, giving Mabel a high-five.

"Dudes, are you saying you want us to take Mr. Pines back to our community with us?" asked Soos.

"YES!" shouted the voice of the Dark Elf king from deep within the mound, echoing out to our heroes. "TAKE HIM! NOW!"

* * *

Pretty soon, Grunkle Stan was climbing his way out of the hidden lair of the Dark Elf tribe that had captured him. Before they were to take the long journey back home, and after Stan telling the young ones how his "visit" with the Dark Elves went, the five debated how this great trek back the way they came was going to be done. They had been through a beautiful yet dangerous land.

"Maybe I can help," spoke a familiar voice. Coming over the rise came Geearto, the plains tribe Elkron from before.

"Not another Deer-Head!" spoke Stan in surprise.


	13. Returning Home

After rekindling their relationship/bond with Stan, the team noticed that Geearto was disappearing into the shadows of the night yet again. However, he spoke one last thing to the Humans as he wandered away. "To return from whence you came, have faith in the unseen..."

"So... how exactly are we expected to get back home?" asked Stan. "And who's running the cash register?"

"Yup, same ol' Mr. Pines," chuckled Soos.

"That's a good question, actually," said Dipper, "How do we get back from this very long journey?"

"Wish on a star?" suggested Mabel, pointing to the shining stars above.

"Seriously?" questioned Dipper, giving a look of disapproval at his sister.

"No, wait. She might have a point," interjected Wendy, petting her younger boyfriend's shoulder in assurance.

From that, the five looked up at the twinkling stars. From out of the dark blue sky, near the bright Moon, the spirit of Wendy's mother was reappearing in front of them. Soos and the twins opened their eyes in amazement at her return while Wendy began to shed new tears of joy to see her mom yet again. Stan just stared strangely.

"Follow me," said Mrs. Corduroy's spirit with a smile.

Once they moved a couple more steps toward her, Wendy's mom's spirit apparently called upon the forces of the righteous Light and in a sudden flash, the six found themselves instantly back in Gravity Falls, right next to the Mystery Shack.

"Ah well, better than taking the bus or a plane!" joked Stan after a brief comprehension of what just happened.

As they all headed in for the night, the young ones reflected on their grand journey across the High Desert to save Stan. They were now feeling ever closer to the balance of natural life. Stan may have somewhat saved himself, but at least they got to him in time. After all, they had the world itself to thank, as well as the unseen.

The End


End file.
